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Apple Seeds macOS Catalina Beta 8 to Developers

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Apple today seeded the eighth beta of macOS 10.15 Catalina to developers, two weeks after seeding the seventh macOS Catalina beta and over two months after the new Mac operating system update was first unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

The new macOS Catalina beta can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper software from the Developer Center.

test-macOS-10.15-800x522.jpg

macOS Catalina eliminates the iTunes app, splitting it into Music, Podcasts, and TV apps. The three new apps offer similar functionality to iTunes, but are split up by feature. iOS device management is still available on the Mac, but it's now done through the Finder rather than iTunes.

With a new Sidecar feature, you can turn your iPad into a second display for your Mac with just the click of a button. The Apple Pencil works with Sidecar, so you can turn your iPad into a drawing tablet in apps like Photoshop and Illustrator.

Your Apple Watch can be used to approve security prompts for passwords and other info in macOS Catalina, and Macs with a T2 chip now support Activation Lock, making them more secure. There's a new Find My that brings the Find My Mac app to the Mac for the first time and even lets you track your devices when they're offline, or, in the case of notebooks, closed.

Screen Time is available on the Mac as well as iOS devices, and Project Catalyst, a new Apple initiative, will let developers easily port their iPad apps over to the Mac to increase the number of Mac apps available.

There's a new Photos interface that surfaces your best photos organized by day, month, or year, there's a new start page in Safari, Mail has new tools for muting email threads and blocking senders, and the Reminders app has been overhauled.

32-bit apps no longer work in macOS Catalina, which is something to be aware of before installing the beta.

For more details on macOS Catalina, make sure to check out our macOS Catalina roundup. Apple will release macOS Catalina sometime in October.

Article Link: Apple Seeds macOS Catalina Beta 8 to Developers
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/09/10/apple-seeds-macos-catalina-beta-8/
Was this the first September keynote in years where they didn't mention macOS at all?

I have a feeling it's pushed to October, but do we have any official word?
[doublepost=1568147726][/doublepost]

Given the big changes in Catalina, I won't be updating right away, as I need to make sure that everything works properly. I install a ton of command-line programs for my web development work, and every major update to the OS requires that they be re-installed again. So ... patience will be my virtue this time. Probably December or January before I update.
 
Not "postponed", but I wondered the same thing: normally, the release date for the next OS is given at the early September event. It's usually towards the third week of September. Then, the next OS (15.0) gets released, and there's a scramble to correct all the unfound defects and push out a 15.1 and 15.2 in early October.

MAYBE Apple is thinking, "Mojave just got pretty stable (14.5, 14.6)." There's no rush -- let's push the release of 15.x Catalina until the October event, where they release the new MacBooks (like 16" MacBook) and the finally-released Mac Pro, and whatever their Tile-competitor tracking tag is. That way, they have a whole event that doesn't compete with all the stuff they announced today, and Catalina gets and additional 3 - 5 weeks of road testing.

Anyone else think that's what's going to happen?
 
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meme1255 said:
Is Catalina still such a mess? I assume so from postponing public release to October...
Click to expand...

It’s not a mess. It’s just that it takes them longer to finish it and the first betas came a bit too early. Beta 6 somehow wrecked my 2013 27” iMac’s firmware though. The iMac is still working but I can no longer update to newer versions. I probably have to bring it to an AASP to get it restored.
 
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coolfactor said:
Was this the first September keynote in years where they didn't mention macOS at all?

I have a feeling it's pushed to October, but do we have any official word?
[doublepost=1568147726][/doublepost]

Given the big changes in Catalina, I won't be updating right away, as I need to make sure that everything works properly. I install a ton of command-line programs for my web development work, and every major update to the OS requires that they be re-installed again. So ... patience will be my virtue this time. Probably December or January before I update.
Click to expand...


I probably won't have to point this one out to you but you could just test it out in a VM, or install it on another disk.

I do understand that for some people their professional usage is critical, better be sure before upgrading.
 
Bokito said:
It’s not a mess. It’s just that it takes them longer to finish it and the first betas came a bit too early. Beta 6 somehow wrecked my 2013 27” iMac’s firmware though. The iMac is still working but I can no longer update to newer versions. I probably have to bring it to an AASP to get it restored.
Click to expand...


There's always a way to force an update, but it's not for the faint hearted.
 
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Bokito said:
It’s not a mess. It’s just that it takes them longer to finish it and the first betas came a bit too early. Beta 6 somehow wrecked my 2013 27” iMac’s firmware though. The iMac is still working but I can no longer update to newer versions. I probably have to bring it to an AASP to get it restored.
Click to expand...
And THAT is NOT a mess???
How much of a fan boy one has to be...
 
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